Course Syllabus
| Semester & Location: |
Fall 2024 - DIS Stockholm |
|---|---|
| Type & Credits: |
Elective Course - 3 credits |
| Major Disciplines: |
Gender Studies, Youth Studies, History and Sociology |
| Faculty: |
Emma Raask (please use the Canvas Inbox) |
| Program Director: |
Helle Rytkønen |
| Time & Place: |
Fridays, 10:05 -13:05 Classroom: C502 |
Course Description
This course will give you an insight into the ways in which sexual reform and sex education have shaped not only the history of sexuality in Europe, but also the very core of various national identities. We will explore the different movements, campaigns, policies, and public debates regarding sexuality and will discover the ways in which sex and sexuality are conveyed in sexual education aimed at children and youth by reading and watching examples of sex educational material.
What sexual behaviors are deemed socially acceptable or normal, and why? We will discuss the framing of a nation’s collective sexual identity through state interventions and sexual reform and the implications for its citizens.
Our theoretical approach will be largely norm critical and you will learn how to apply the theoretical perspectives of Foucault, Ponzetti, and others. In doing so, we will critically reflect on the history of sexual categorization of human beings, as well as understand sexual norms as dynamic and closely tied to other historical movements and events.
We will ask norm critical questions, such as “is sex political?” and “are sexual practices and preferences innate?” What socializing role could and should sexual education have? At the end of the course, you will make group presentations in which you present your own version of “the perfect sexual education.”
Learning Objectives
Upon completing the course, you will be able to…
- Demonstrate the different ways in which sexual reform and sex education have been central to the positions of human rights and sexual health in various European nations.
- Determine the unique position of sexual reform in Scandinavia and Europe.
- Historicize current activist movements (e.g. for LGBT rights, reproductive rights, sexual liberation).
- Critically reflect upon the relationship between historical context and the formation of cultural norms and concepts (related to sexuality) in relation to present-day reformed sexual education.
- Critically explore your own sexual norms and behaviors and understand how they are shaped by history.
Faculty
Emma Raask:
M.A. Cultural Studies, Goldsmith’s University of London studying bodies, plasticity, plastic and queerness. Previous Sexual Educator (RFSU and Goldsmith’s student union) and CEO at a small charity working for young peoples rights to live in a society free from sexual violence (Föreningen Tillsammans). Current CEO at a youth sports organisation. With DIS Since 2020.
Readings
- Herzog, Dagmar. Sexuality in Europe: A Twentieth-century History. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2011.
- Strömquist, Liv. The Fruit of Knowledge: The Vulva Vs. The Patriarchy
- Additional texts will be available digitally through Canvas.
Field Studies
Two field studies will be organized during the course.
- We will visit the Swedish Association for Sexual Education. They will give a lecture on the organization's history, and we will also receive some sexual education.
- We will visit a youth clinic to hear about how they are working with sex education.
Guest Lecturers
- Artist Jessie McLaughlin will visit us to talk about campaigns, art and resistance during the AIDSpandemic in the UK.
Approach to Teaching
This course relies heavily on in-class participation. Class time will be largely discussion-based, with some lecture and interactive activities. You should read all material prior to class and will be expected to actively participate in both all class discussions and group work.
Late work will be deducted by one letter grade per day it is late.
Expectations of the Students
In order to pass the class, you must:
- Read all material before the class.
- Actively participate in discussions of your readings.
- Be active participants in group work.
Our schedule is subject to change if necessary with as much notice as possible. Complete all readings BEFORE CLASS unless the readings are in parentheses.
Evaluation & Grading
|
Assignments |
Percentage of final grade |
|---|---|
|
Participation |
25 % |
| Academic Reflection | 25 % |
|
Academic Essay |
30 % |
|
Group work - create the perfect sexual education |
20 % |
Module A: Collectively conceiving sexuality:
Class 1: Welcome, presentations and introduction to the syllabus
Readings:
A: Your syllabus
Class 2: What is sexuality?!
Readings:
A: The invention of Sexuality, (chapter 2 in A very short introduction to sexuality)
B: Queer: A graphic history
Class 3: Sexuality and power
Readings:
A: Understanding Patriarchy. Bell Hooks.
B: Mies, Federici and Biopower
(C: Understanding Foucault with hipsters)
Class 4: Sexuality and norms: binary genders and heteronormativity
Readings:
A: The Fruit of knowledge
B: Gender identity: Changing Rooms. Natalie Fiennes
Class 5: Criminalizing Sexuality: the invention of (homo)sexuality
Readings:
A: Rydström. Criminalizing queer. P 15-25
Module B: State intervention and reform
Class 6: State interventions and the early history of sexual reform in Europe
Readings:
A: From Fragile Solidarities to Burnt Sexual Subjects: At the Institute of Sexual Science.
(B: Herzog pp. 24-41)
Class 7: Intervention and reform during and after WWI and II
Readings:
A: Herzog pp. 45-131 (Focus on 61-83 + 96-116)
Class 8: The 1970s sexual liberation movement
Readings:
A: “Sexual Liberalism in Sweden,” Lena Lennerhed
B: (Hot Love, Cold People. Carl Marklund)
Class 9: The 1980s AIDS crisis (Guest Lecture)
Readings:
A: Herzog pp. 176-198
Class 10: The 1990/2000s Islam, borders and the making 'the other.'
Readings:
A: Herzog, 198-215
B: The savior complex: muslim women and gendered islamophobia. Lola Olufemi
Class 11: The Nordic Model and sex work
A: Amia Srinivasan - The right to sex.
Class 12: The 2010s laws of sexual offense and consent
Readings
A: Rape in the nordic countries p 101-120
Module C: Sexual education in Europe
Class 13: Conversations on consent
A: Sexuality beyond consent: Risk, Race and Traumatophilia
B: Screw Consent: A better politics of sexual justice
Class 14: Sex Education in Sweden:
A: Shaping sexual knowledge p 55-70
Class 15: Sex education in Europe – comparing national models
Readings:
A: Policies for Sexuality Education in the European Union 7-11 + 16 (Denmark) + 18 (Finland and France) + 20 (Germany) + 24 (Netherlands) + 29 (Spain) + 30 (Sweden) and 31 (UK).
Class 16: Children's sexual rights
Readings:
A Beyond Eurocentrism lack of social justice and non western perspectives in sexuality education classes
(B:In ignorance and in knowledge: reflections on the history of sex education in Britain, Shaping sexual knowledge)
'Class 17: Children and sexual education today – when, where, and what?
Readings:
A: Ponzetti, Early Childhood Sexuality education, 201-218
B: How a German Elementary School Taught Sex Ed
Class 18: Sexual education and youth
Readings:
A: Sex your way, RFSU.
(B: Sexuality through adolescence, Ponzetti)
Class 19: Sex, young people, and the internet
Readings
A: Keep your private stuff private
(B: Sexuality Education in the digital era intrinsic and extrinsic predictors of online sexual information seeking youth)
Class 20: Disability and Sex Education
A: No sex please, we’re labelled intellectually disabled
(B: Ponzetti chapter 16 Sexuality Education and Persons With Disabilities)
Class 21: Learning through literature - Children's literature on sexuality and reproduction through time
A: Representations of Pregnancy and Childbirth in (West) German Sex Education Books, 1900s–1970s
FINAL EXAMINATION and WRAP UP
Class 22: Presentations in class
Class 23: Wrapping up, evaluating, and saying goodbye
Academic Regulations
Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on:
Course Summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
|---|---|---|